


i found love where it wasn't supposed to be (right in front of me)

by bloodyhalefire



Series: 100 ways to say i love you [4]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reunions, like we believe in hope/landon brotp, no beta we die like men, this house is NOT anti-landon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26581744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyhalefire/pseuds/bloodyhalefire
Summary: Thankfully their friends' attention isn't really on her, so they don’t notice it when she freezes; across the quad is none other than Ryan Clarke.No way,she thinks,it isn’t possible.But god, she wishes it was—she wishes it more than anything.(82. "i was in the neighborhood.”)
Relationships: Landon Kirby & Hope Mikaelson, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Ryan Clarke/Hope Mikaelson
Series: 100 ways to say i love you [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1098828
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	i found love where it wasn't supposed to be (right in front of me)

**Author's Note:**

> title from “i found” by amber run lmao
> 
> anyways,,,me?? writing a rare pair?? i can’t even say more likely than u think bc this shouldn’t be surprising at all,,,,,,anyway this fic is total shit (and i’m v sorry abt that) but either way i hope u enjoy <3

After everyone else gets their memories restored and finally remembers her, of  _ course _ one of the first things she does after the dust settles is tell Landon the whole truth about what happened in Malivore—it would have been unfair to both of them if she didn’t. So Hope explains everything: what happened, what changed, etc. 

But the thing is, Hope hasn’t really spoken about her time in Malivore to anyone since coming back. In fact, she’s tried her hardest not to think about it at all. Besides, at the time she was busy trying to deal with all of the monsters that had escaped with her on top of the fact that nobody remembered her—which is something she honestly still has nightmares about—and once everyone  _ did _ remember her, all of them were busy dealing with the monsters right along with her. So now that she’s finally talking to someone about her experience there and her time with Clarke, she’s helpless to stop the tears that have been fighting to fall since the beginning of this conversation. However, before she completely succumbs to them, Hope finally admits to Landon outright that she’s in love with his step-brother; as soon as the words exit her mouth she 

She cries for the end of her and Landon; she cries in relief of finally being remembered; she cries in grief over losing Clarke, the man she loves. 

So after she finishes crying and is actually able to catch her breath, Hope finally admits to Landon outright that she’s in love with his step-brother. 

The awkwardly stiff way that he had comforted Hope during her pseudo-breakdown aside, Landon had taken the news a lot better than she had expected him to—in fact, he was more affected by the fact that the person she loves is Clarke than he was about the fact that she had feelings for someone that isn’t him in general. She didn’t know whether she was supposed to be offended about that or not, at least not until he admitted to her that even with his memories back he still truly loves Josie and wants to be with her.

Overall, it had been an odd and emotionally fraught conversation to say the least, but she knows that they both felt much better after; in fact, Hope thinks they’re even closer because of it.

* * *

It’s Saturday—thank god—and Hope is sitting outside at one of the benches on the quad with everyone; she’s sitting on one side next to Landon, Josie, and Kaleb respectively, with MG, Lizzie, and Raf across from them. Everybody is still having a pretty difficult time wrapping their heads around the fact that Hope and Landon have managed to seamlessly transition from dating to good friends; in fact, all of them still give her and Landon odd looks that they probably think are surreptitious whenever the two of them are next to each other, just like they are right now. Hope’s helpless to do anything but laugh about it. 

She can’t help but get lost in thought as she lets the voices of her friends wash over her—for once, everything seems peaceful. There hasn’t been an attack on the school in about a week and the weather is amazing. Hope feels happy. She feels at  _ peace. _ That in and of itself is something of a foreign concept to her, but it’s one that she can definitely get used to. 

However, it doesn’t last long. 

Thankfully their friends' attention isn't really on her, so they don’t notice it when she freezes; across the quad is none other than Ryan Clarke.  _ No way, _ she thinks,  _ it isn’t possible. _

But god, she wishes it was—she wishes it more than anything.

Still maintaining eye-contact, Hope elbows Landon. “Landon,” she hisses. 

“Ow, Jesus,” Landon whispers in response as he rubs at his chest. “What? And was that really necessary?”

Hope doesn’t deem that with a response. She physically can’t, not when she’s pretty she’s lost her damn mind and started hallucinating. “Look.”

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Landon look at her questioningly before following her gaze. He freezes too. 

“You see him too, right? Please tell me you see him too,” she whispers.

Though he seems just as confused as she is, as soon as Landon nods she’s up and running; everyone sans Landon visibly startled at her sudden movement.

“What the fuck?” she hears Lizzie blurt out, but she couldn’t care less. Besides, Hope can hear Landon giving the group a vague explanation behind her (and no part of her feels bad that she‘s forced him to do that).

She collides with him—the force of their bodies crashing together is almost enough to have them falling over; the only thing steadying them is Clarke’s hands on her waist, real. Her arms are wrapped around his shoulders and her head is resting in the crook of his neck. 

“Oh my god,” she says. “What are you doing here? How? What? Oh my god.”

Hope can practically  _ hear _ his crooked and self-satisfied grin; Clarke laughs. “I was in the neighborhood.”

She laughs, and it sounds only a  _ little _ hysterical. “How are you here?”

Clarke uses his grip on her waist to gently push her away from him, causing her arms to unwind from around his shoulders and her head to leave his neck. As soon as they make eye contact, Hope’s breath catches in her chest. He’s real, he’s  _ here. _

She has no idea what her facial expression is, but it must reflect the odd jumble of emotions she’s experiencing because Clarke’s expression softens. He moves his hands from her hips so that they're cradling her face. “Honestly? I’m not completely sure. One second I was floating in a dark nothingness, and the next second I was on a park bench.”

Hope tries to hide her flinch at the reminder of the fact that she had left Clarke alone in Malivore, his worst nightmare; she doesn’t succeed in hiding her flinch, however, because Clarke’s expression softens even further. He strokes his thumbs gently across her cheeks. “It’s okay,” he says. “I’m not upset anymore.”

“Thank you,” she whispers; she has no idea what to say.

He must feel eyes on him, because he tears his gaze away from Hope and looks over her shoulder. His eyes widen, no doubt seeing Landon. “Reunited with my little brother, I see,” he says in a tone Hope can’t place as he begins to withdraw his hands from her face and take a step back. 

Before his hands can completely leave her face though, she quickly covers his hands with her own and holds them there, stealing Clarke's ability to let go of her. He makes a questioning sound in the back of his throat as he turns his gaze back toward her. 

“We’re not together anymore,” she admits quietly. 

Clarke’s response is just as quiet. “Why not?”

“We’ve decided we’re a lot better as friends,” she says as a smile breaks out across her face. “Besides, turns out we’re both in love with other people.”

Hope is not deterred by the silence she gets in response. She can’t be, not when she’s been handed a second chance. “I love you, Ryan Clarke.”

At the admission, Clarke’s expression goes from surprise to confusion to hesitant joy so quickly she almost misses it. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she says. 

All of a sudden she feels arms wrap around her shoulders and her body pressed close to a firm chest. Clarke presses a hard kiss to her forehead; his heart is racing. “God,” he breathes, “I love you too, sweetheart. So much.”

Hope laughs giddily as she pulls back from Clarke’s embrace just enough to grab his shirt and yank his face down to her, crashing their mouths together. 

Clarke makes a surprised noise in the back of his throat before practically  _ melting _ into the kiss. He slowly moves his hands so that he’s gently cupping her cheeks again. The kiss started intensely, but it gradually became softer and more gentle—it seemed to go on forever. 

“What the  _ hell _ is happening here?” Hope hears someone say from behind her.

She reluctantly pulls away from Clarke and turns to see Alaric, and there’s no doubt in her mind that it was him who asked the question; the table she was sitting at is abandoned, and her friends are now standing only a few yards away. Everyone has confused expressions except Landon, whose shoulders are shaking with silent laughter.

“Um,” she responds uselessly. “Surprise?”

That seems to be enough to shatter Landon’s already weak composure, because he immediately snorts. At the sound everyone turns to look at him with bewildered looks on their faces. There’s a few seconds of silence before Kaleb finally speaks up. “Wait a second, bro,” he says. “You don’t have an issue with this? At all?”

Now it’s Landon’s turn to look confused. “Why would I? Hope and I are  _ friends, _ nothing more,” he responds slowly. “Besides, I’m with Josie.”

Josie blushes a little at the words; Landon grins and wraps his arm around her shoulders, pressing a light kiss to her temple.

_ “Seriously?” _ Kaleb asks incredulously.

Landon shrugs. “Turns out he isn’t as bad as I previously thought.”

“Thanks,” Clarke says dryly, the first thing he’s said since her friends had approached them.

Everyone sans her and Landon jerk at the sound of Clarke’s voice as if they’d all forgotten he was even here—which is a bit ridiculous considering the fact that his presence is literally their current topic of conversation—and turn toward him. 

“This is weird,” Lizzie mumbles. “Like, this is  _ really _ weird.”

At that, Landon and Hope look at each other before laughing; the fact that they’re the only ones not shocked is still a lot funnier than she thought it would be. 

“You better watch yourself,” Alaric says to Clarke, and he’s now the first person to speak to him besides Landon, “I’ll be watching you.”

Clarke snorts. “Of course,” he drawls. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Hope can’t hold back a little smile at the fact that despite the indifference he’s trying to show, Clarke’s hands still ball into fists where they’re resting on her hips.

Alaric narrows his eyes. “Good.”

“We’ll be watching you too,” MG blurts. “So you better not try anything funny.” 

The rest of her friends nod in agreement at MG’s announcement and Hope can’t help but roll her eyes. “Sorry about them,” she whispers to Clarke. “They’re just a bit overprotective.”

Clarke pulls her close and leans down to whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. It’s nice that they care enough to threaten me over you.”

You have nothing to worry about,” he says louder to address everyone else. “I won’t hurt her.”

Lizzie gives one sharp nod. “Good.”

Then the odd tension seems to slowly disappear as everyone turns around and walk back to their table. Landon turns around to look at them after he realizes that they haven’t made any move to follow and says, “C’mon. I’m sure we can make a bit of room for you.”

Clarke makes a surprised noise and looks at Hope with a confused expression. Hope smiles and grabs his hand, walking forward to follow Landon. After he finds his bearings, Clarke takes a few big steps so that the two of them are next to each other and wraps an arm around her shoulders before kissing the crown of her head. 

For the first time in what almost seems like forever, Hope feels really and truly happy. 

**Author's Note:**

> im bad at endings,,,,,,also sorry this was rly bad and also very choppy i just ship them a lot and needed to get this out,,,,, pls let me know if u notice any errors
> 
> anyway comments and kudos are my lifeblood and they fuel me so if u enjoyed it would mean a lot if you dropped one <3
> 
> feel free to check out [my spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/alessiaiscool?si=EA891mAJQUmiYeiThFfx_A) 😊


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